Governors

Welcome to our Governors’ section.
Please find below details of how our Governing Body is structured, including the names, categories, responsibilities and terms of appointment for each Governor.

Our Governing Body

Mission Statement

The Governors place Christ at the centre of all we do, and play a vital role in making sure every child gets the best possible education in line with our ethos and mission statement as a Catholic school. The Governing Body supports the Mission Statement of the school by ensuring that the school provides a safe, caring, and stimulating learning environment where every child can realise his or her full potential.

We will achieve this through both an active involvement in the
life of the school, and by working closely with the school’s management team:

to set challenging aims and objectives for the school;

to agree policies, priorities, and performance targets for accomplishing these objectives;

to look for evidence that these objectives are being achieved, by asking forthright questions of the management team.

The Governing Body has three core strategic functions:

Ensuring clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction;

Holding the headteacher to account for the educational performance of the school and its pupils, and the performance management of staff; and

Overseeing the financial performance of the school and making sure its money is well spent.

Within the overall structure of the Governing Body, there are sub-committees, each with a mix of foundation, staff and parent governors.

Working Committees

The working committees that will operate at Our Lady Immaculate from September 2016 are:

Children, Families and Community Committee

This committee reviews and analyses the behaviour of pupils. It takes into account the views of parents, pupils and others when making decisions. We are regularly in contact with the School Council and welcome the pupils’ comments and feedback. We monitor punctuality and attendance closely and ensure all pupils are able to contribute towards a wider community environment. We encourage and promote healthy lifestyles within the school community and carry out regular safeguarding visits and audits.

Curriculum and Achievement Committee

Our aim is to support the Head and teachers in providing excellent teaching within the school ensuring that each child fulfils their true potential.

We do this by careful consideration of the curriculum and by supporting school initiatives to ensure that the widest possible range of subjects are taught in an inspirational and successful way. Each Subject Leader reports to us termly with an overview of how the subject is being taught and how each class is progressing with that subject.

We also monitor the school’s overall attainment on a regular basis and work with the Senior Leadership Team to ensure that the School Development Plan is on track.

Resources Committee

The Resources Committee monitors the school’s financial well-being and supports the Headteacher in her initiative to improve the school’s controls over expenditure. We meet at least once a term and more frequently during the spring term when the budget is being prepared. In addition, the Chair meets periodically throughout each term with the Business Manager (Bursar) and Headteacher to review the school’s finances.

What does a Governor do?

Governors' Fund

The Governors’ Fund plays an important role in helping to meet the financial needs of our school.

Our school receives money from the Government via Kingston Education Authority to cover staff salaries, educational materials and other essentials. However, this money from the Government does not cover all our costs. As a denominational school wishing to promote the Catholic faith, Our Lady Immaculate needs to find 10% of some cost of repairs, alterations to the premises and building insurance premiums.

Over the years the Governors’ Fund has contributed to:

· New school kitchens

· Refurbishment of computers in the IT suite

· Diocese and local authority insurance costs

· Toilet block upgrades

· Various redecoration projects

· New heating for the school hall

We welcome all voluntary contributions you are able to make to the fund.

An annual donation of £30 from each family (not per child) is suggested.

We realise that not all families are in the same financial situation, some can afford more and some not so much, so anything you can afford would be appreciated.

All payments should be made via +Pay, through your Parentmail account. If you need any help with this, please ask the office staff for assistance. However, if this preferred method is not possible you can send an envelope with your contribution – making your cheque payable to “Our Lady Immaculate School”.